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Aug 9, 2018 at 6:20 PMAug 9, 2018 at 6:20 PM

Rhode Island is home to more than 1,500 manufacturers that provide people with good-paying jobs. We have made the commitment to this great state, home of the American Industrial Revolution, despite the fact that some of our counterparts have moved their operations overseas or been forced to close up shop.

There are still, however, challenges and obstacles that without action will make it even harder for our industry to thrive. At the top of this list is energy and its high cost in New England. Rhode Island ratepayers have the third-highest costs in the 48 contiguous states, at almost double the national average. That makes it more difficult for manufacturers to compete and stay rooted here, providing local jobs.

In a June 25 Commentary piece (“No need for more gas infrastructure”), David Ismay of the Conservation Law Foundation claims that all is well in New England with year-round reliability and low costs to customers. He makes these claims based upon new clean power investments that have only recently begun to scale up operations.

While we commend policy decisions and investment in renewable energy from the state level all the way down to manufacturers, the reality is that they are far short of being able to keep up with today’s energy demands, particularly during the winter. Seven power plants have come offline — one-third of New England’s power — leaving our power grid to become increasingly unreliable and our energy costs to skyrocket.

The fact is that the New England — and Rhode Island — are way behind when it comes to affordable energy. We have options available to us, like cleaner natural gas, while we continue to ramp up production and investment in renewable energy, such as solar and wind.

As manufacturers and large energy users, we understand the devastating effects of inaction. We have to balance priorities and make tough decisions every day to ensure the livelihood of our businesses.

Ismay is naive to believe that the usage of natural gas flies in the face of renewable energy. This should not be a one versus the other situation, but rather one until the other. Government, energy providers, businesses, advocates and Rhode Islanders need to come together on this issue before, once again, it is too late.

Dave Chenevert is the executive director of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association. Douglas Gablinske is the executive director of the Energy Council of Rhode Island.

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